Renting: Landlord vs. Electoral Roll

Pine25

Hi all, was hoping I might be able to pick some brains.
I moved into my current home two years ago, its a bedsit style room with a shared bathroom with other tenants, theres 5 rooms in total though only 3 are rented out. Our landlord does not live here, though I believe he owns the salon that the building is above, and his father has an office on the first floor that he uses most days.
(Off topic extra info: The office has a separate entrance yet he will often come into the rest of the building as he wishes - and his staff have been wandering up as well. They also don't inform us when there will be work in the building and when I've asked for notice they've been quite rude about it, and haven't fixed the leaking roof in my room, but that's a whole different matter.) 
In the terms of the common law tenancy agreement it states that we cannot register on the electoral roll at this address, when I questioned this my landlord said it was due to previous tenants racking up debt and having bailiffs at the address which he didn't want to repeat. It seems very dodgy to me, right? I didn't think electoral roll has anything to do with debt?
 However my mother is on limited income and if I was registered at hers it would cause issues for her so she pressed me to register, and with recent issues I wanted to be able to vote easily - so registered anyway, this was two years ago when I moved in.

The other day I received a letter from the council asking if I still lived here, to which I replied yes. They came back and told me they'd been informed I no longer did. I assured them I did, and they asked who else should be on the register. I told them as far as I'm aware I'm the only tenant registered, but I believe my landlord is also registered here. 

I was googling things like landlord and electoral roll and came across this forum, one post said that he could be fined £1000 for giving false information. If this happens can he charge it to me? What other reasons are there for him not wanting us on the electoral roll? Could he throw me out for breaking the clause of not registering? Is it even legal that he forbids us from doing so?

I have tried to contact shelter but no luck, and I'm certain they have more important issues.  
Thanks all

davidmcn

It's illegal for anyone to give false information to the council when they're compiling the electoral roll, you're entitled to be on the roll at whatever your residence is, and I would think any provision in a tenancy agreement prohibiting you from being on the roll is unenforceable.
Bailiffs could of course come looking for you whether or not you're on the electoral roll, I suspect landlord is trying to claim single person discount for council tax purposes and/or evading other taxes or obligations by trying to hide the fact there are tenants.

SmashedAvacado

I think the clause would likely be considered to be an unfair clause and unenforceable.  I haven't seen case law about this, but it is difficult to see a justifiable reason for a clause like this, and I cant see a court ruling that you could contract our of your democratic rights 
He also would have a problem suing you for damages where his loss relates to him committing an offence. I think public policy would likely prevent him being able to claim losses from you on this basis. 

BrownTrout

Is the council tax in his name? Maybe he is claiming the council tax discount and anyone on electoral roll would flag that up with data checks

bouicca21

Maybe it should be licensed as an HMO? So he doesn't want people on the electoral roll in case the council twigs.

hb2

bouicca21 said:

Maybe it should be licensed as an HMO? So he doesn't want people on the electoral roll in case the council twigs.

This was my thinking too.

Smodlet

If your LL wants to rent only to people who are not on the electoral register, he should let only to illegal immigrants.  He sounds seriously dodgy, OP.  I wonder how many other laws he is breaking... I bet he doesn't declare the income from rents to HMRC.

Pine25

Apologies for the slow response - busy week at work! Thanks all for the replies!

Avoiding some kind of tax/fee was our best guess, too. If he is doing this, and I've now let it slip, is there any potential financial consequences for us tenants? I imagine he'll probably evict us at the very least (if he's allowed to in this case?), but could we be fined or anything from the council ourselves?

BrownTrout said:

Is the council tax in his name? 

I imagine so - all of our "bills" are included in the rent, including the council tax, according to our contracts (although he later charged someone a TV licence even though he has a TV only for netflix and video games )

kinger101

Ignore it.  Any term contrary to the law is void.
He sounds like a scumbag.

NewShadow

Pine25 said:

Avoiding some kind of tax/fee was our best guess, too. If he is doing this, and I've now let it slip, is there any potential financial consequences for us tenants? I imagine he'll probably evict us at the very least (if he's allowed to in this case?), but could we be fined or anything from the council ourselves?

BrownTrout said:

Is the council tax in his name? 

I imagine so - all of our "bills" are included in the rent, including the council tax, according to our contracts (although he later charged someone a TV licence even though he has a TV only for netflix and video games )

If he hasn't been paying council tax the council could chase you for the amount owing - if it's in your contract it's included you'd have to pay the council then sue the landlord via small claims. 

Re eviction:
1. Have you paid a deposit? If so, has it been protected in one of the required schemes and have you had the required information?
2. Does the property have mains gas? If so, has the landlord been carrying out the required annual gas safety checks and provided you with a copy of the certificate?  

If the landlord has failed with one of the requirements above, I believe you can't be legally evicted via section 21 - and even if you do receive notice to quit, you do not have to leave until after the matter has gone to court.  

That said, I'd start looking for a suitable alternative sooner rather than later as the landlord sounds like a bit of a nightmare...  If he starts being 'unpleasant' and/or pressuring you to leave, make sure you document it. If he's not protected your deposit you can sue him for upto three times it's amount, and having evidence of harassment/attempted illegal eviction will only strengthen your case for the higher penalty. 

oldbikebloke

NewShadow said:

If he hasn't been paying council tax the council could chase you for the amount owing - if it's in your contract it's included you'd have to pay the council then sue the landlord via small claims. 

sue the LL for what?
If it is an HMO then statute law says the LL is liable for the whole council tax. Nothing can be disputed over that, its the law.

you then say "if its in your contract"... well then, the tenant has agreed with the LL in writing to pay £x as a "contribution" to the LL in respect of the LL's CT liability.
Failure to make such a payment is a contractual dispute been the LL as plaintiff and the tenant as defendant.

The judge will read the contract, decide how clear it is, decide how fair it is, and find in the case of plaintiff since it categorically says pay £x and I'll bet the wording is clear.